Inside the Sealed Room: A Tribute to Edgar Stiles
by Maze Pha'len
Summary: After last night's episode of 24, I sat down filled with emotion. This is what came out. Chloe x Edgar


Author's note: I do not own 24. Fox does, and they hold more lawyer powers than the Justice League holds Superpowers. Let it be known I am not stealing.

I HAD to write this after last night's episode of 24. Someone had to do it, to lessen the injustice. If the quotes aren't perfect, you'll have to deal with it.

Inside the Sealed Room: A Tribute to Edgar Stiles

Maze Pha'len

Hadn't he always been there? Hadn't she always had him to throw her sarcastic remarks at? Chloe just stared into his eyes, and knew it would be the last time, the last time she would see the life in them.

----------

Their eyes were locked for half a second, Edgar's filled with confusion, and Chloe's filled with... What was it? he thought, What's going on? Why's she in the briefing room? Why's it sealed?

He broke the stare first, and looked around him. Bodies, everywhere, gagging, suffocating, drooling all over themselves. Finally he understood. He looked back into Chloe's eyes.

I am going to die.

Edgar stared at her, his heart full of regret, and whispered, "Chloe..."

He couldn't hear her respond, but he knew she mouthed his name. He would never get the chance to tell her that he cared for her more than as a friend. Just earlier today he had told her that, before it had all gone to hell, that he was her friend, but he knew it was more than a friendship to him. He loved her, and he'd always wanted to say it, to scream it aloud, to spin in his big chair and tell all of CTU how he felt.

Of course, he never had the courage, not even to mention it to her in little IMs, not even to tell her on sticky notes or drop subtle hints in conversation. And Chloe O'Brien wasn't like most girls. Had he stood up on his swivel chair at his workstation, other girls would've blushed, or had the good sense to be embarrassed and talk to him in private.

Chloe would've just stared at him and said, "Edgar, you're sweet, but you're freakin' me out," in her sarcastic tone, and continued doing what she had been doing. "Once you're done being insane go open another socket."

He would never hear her tell him she knew how to do her job, never hear her say, "I know that, Edgar, that's what I was doing," or "Yeah, okay," or anything at all...

So with his last few moments, he would be content to look at her, to let his eyes say all he had left unsaid, and prayed that she would listen.

------------

She pressed her hands against the glass, and began to say, "Open the seal, we need to let Edgar in!" The words seemed to catch themselves in her throat. They couldn't open the seal, they couldn't risk letting the nerve gas in.

But he's still out there!

He looked around, and a look of comprehension came upon his face. He looked back up, and, though she couldn't hear him, she felt him murmur her name. Edgar? she thought, No, Edgar you can't die...

He had always been there for her, ever since they met at CTU, the two computer geniuses had always stuck together. There had been days where they were bitter enemies, or archrivals, or just downright rude for no reason, but they had at least been friends through it all. He was the only person who could keep up with her intellectually, mostly. And he was a nice guy.

Chloe's mind flashed to the time that they had found some down time in the office. Edgar had rigged the system to run a new form of Tetris he had formatted onto the main server for multiplayer. It was then that he had taught her how to dominate the Tetris field, gotten her addicted to those little falling blocks, gotten that stupid music stuck in her head.

Then their first date. It had been cute, not entirely romantic. Edgar took her to his favorite coffee shop in LA, and they had lunch together. It had been awkward, and they didn't go out on dates afterward, just friendly luncheons.

Edgar listened, that was what was important. He would always listen to her unless he or she had an ego problem, mainly on those Hell days that kept everyone at CTU so busy for about 24 hours straight. He listened with all her boyfriend problems, all her family troubles, all her bad dreams, everything she had come to him with. And in return, what had she given him?

The answer came with startling clarity: I gave him nothing.

She had always been sealed off inside a small room, she had never let him in, never listened to his problems. He didn't have girlfriends, but it didn't matter, she had always been closed off.

Hadn't he been there when she gunned down her first person? Hadn't he shown genuine concern about her well being?

"Chloe, you okay?"

"Edgar, I just shot and killed a person."

"I know, you must feel awful, Chlo---"

"No, the problem is I don't feel anything."

"Maybe you're just shellshocked or something, and you'll just freak out in a couple of days."

"I hope so."

And now, he stood there, staring into her eyes, just staring. Stupid Edgar, she screamed inside, HOLD YOUR BREATH! GET OUTTA HERE! GO FIND SOMEWHERE SAFE, DAMMIT!

Their eyes were locked. She could hear him, as clearly as if he had stood up on his desk and proclaimed his love for her in front of everyone, his eyes were screaming at the top of their lungs, and she couldn't pull away, she could only watch him, comprehending the meaning flooding out of his eyes.

Go, Edgar, go... Don't die...

She wanted to cry, to show him she had cared, that she was grateful to have met him, to have had such a good friend, and that they should've been so much more than friends...

Edgar took a deep breath, and stumbled, leaning on the desk for support. He choked, coughed, and looked up at her with sad, weakened eyes.

I love you, his eyes said. Chloe heard it, loud and clear. What did she say back?

But he needed nothing in return. A tiny smile, imperceptible to all but Chloe, played across his lips, a smile of satisfaction, of completion, and he fell to the ground, slowly, and died from exposure to Syntox VX Nerve Gas.

Chloe O'Brien could only watch within the confines of her Sealed Room.


End file.
